Dinner was going smoothly, as everyone complimented the food and drinks. The talk was light, everyone having conversations with their neighbors. The topics of conversation ranged from the food in the cafeteria, the way the teachers taught, the other students that attend the high school, to the gossip that has been spreading through town as of late, to Bella and the Cullens.
"It was nothing short of a miracle when Edward Cullen started to date Bella Swan. There are a lot of beautiful girls at that school, and she shows up and accomplishes something in a week what most girls there have tried for years. Besides the fact that she looks very plain, she is also very boring. But now that she has started to date Edward, she believes she has instantly become better than the rest of us." Lauren told everyone, before taking another bite of the Punta de Solomillo.
"Well, Bella always had a way to appear like one thing, until she gets her way, then her ugly side came out. Wait not true, her ugliness is always showing." Hermione said. Everyone laughed.
"Well, you have officially became my new favorite person." Jessica piped up, while she was laughing.
"Hey now, you have to find a new favorite person, she is already taken." Harry said teasingly. Laughter erupted once more from all around the table.
"Don't mind him, he is just fussy because 'Mione forced him to go back to school. He wanted to just skip it and get his certificate a different way before heading off to University." George informed everyone.
While everyone talked about one thing or another, Fred seemed to have taken to Isaac Weber, in a "I-have-a-slight-crush-on-you" type way. It was common knowledge back in Britain, that Fred was gay, but here in this small town, it was seen as something abnormal. It was why Fred was talking cautiously to Isaac for now, whereas back home, he would have already been flirting at this time. Hermione smiled every time she glanced over to him, maybe him being hesitant will allow for him to have a better relationship opposed to the normal one-night-stands that he was accustomed to. Throughout the conversation, Fred dropped subtle hints as to the fact that he liked him in a way that was slightly more than platonic. From the observations of Hermione, Isaac was very accepting of them. Angela, who was sitting on the right side of her, leaned over and whispered to her, "Zac just came out of the closet last summer, the two of them seem to make a cute couple. Don't you agree?" Hermione smirked as she replied to Angela, "We need to set them up with each other. There may be an age gap there, but I think the two of them would be cute together."
"Well then, we just need a plan. We should talk about it tomorrow, when they aren't around. Josh and Zac always share things, even if it is unnecessary." The two of them giggled as their minds wandered to the vast subjects that the two boys would share with the other, many of the topics bordered on inappropriate, which is the cause of the sniggers from them.
"Will you care to fill the rest of us into the joke, love? I would love to know what has you so giggly over there." Harry asked her with a smirk. He knew that by drawing attention to Hermione while she was laughing, seeing as she was very self-conscious of her laugh, would cause her to blush in the way that he loved to see. Which is exactly what she does.
Hermione knew what Harry was doing, and she knew that he knew she hated her laugh. It wasn't the chiming laugh that someone of her status is associated with, but that of a deep rumbling with a snort added into the mix, one that has given her hell her whole childhood.
When she was an outcast in the primary school as a little girl, due to the strange things that happened around her, which she later come to realize was her accidental magic, her laugh was one of the things that she was constantly teased about. There was also the fact that her accent wasn't that of her peers, seeing as she once lived in America for a few years. Her adoption was also common knowledge, so that was another topic that she had been teased mercilessly on. When she finally was at Hogwarts, that was one of the few things that she had kept hidden, even from her closest of friends.
Only, when in their fifth year, Harry was heart-broken over the loss of Sirius, did she finally come clean about some of her past. She didn't do it to tell Harry that she was in a way like him, but she did it to let him know that she was once in that place. Where she felt as if she was alone in the world, with no one left who cared for her. Then she remembered that when she was thrown out like last week's trash by her birth parents, her adoptive parents were the one to pick her up and raise her into who she was today. She told Harry that she understood where his mind was wandering to, but that he should remember that he didn't need his family to be loved. The friends that he had grown up with, the friends that he has made since he first came to Hogwarts have become his family. They may not share the same ancestors, they may not share the same blood, but they did share one thing. And that was what brought them all together, and will keep them together until they died, that shared attribute was the irrevocable and irreplaceable love that has grown between them since they first met. That love didn't have to romantic, it could very well be platonic, but it was there, and that was something that would never go away. That was the day that they share their first kiss, something that she would remember the rest of her life.
But Hermione realized that Harry only wanted to hear her laugh and to see the blush on her cheeks that would come from the attention being drawn to her. She knew that she would make him pay, and he would pay big.
"Well, I was just telling Angelina here about how you fumbled over your words when you went to ask for my hand in marriage. Nearly insulting my father, as well as getting yourself killed when you tried to fix your mistake by making an inappropriate comment to him about our relationship." Hermione smirked in a way that Draco Malfoy would be proud of. The look of horror that became present on Harry's face was more than enough of a payback.
The rest of the meal passed much the same. Crude jokes were made by a few of them pertaining to the few couples that were present at the meal. Numbers were swapped so that they were able to text each other while they were at school tomorrow. The eight guests were quick to mention who the best teachers were, which classes were the easiest to pass, which teachers would be the worst to have. They informed the Potters about some of their future classmates, who was the biggest bitch was, who the biggest flirt was, the class-clown, and who the biggest teacher's pet was.
Once dinner and dessert had been served and eaten, Harry and Hermione led everyone into the sitting room that was connected to the babies playroom through a sliding wall. When it is closed, the rooms are separate, the hinges and creases barely even noticeable, but when the walls are opened, the panels slide easily into the walls and the archway hides them with small four inch wide boards that cover the openings. The arch hung down low enough on either side that the tracks were hidden. Hermione, who was holding Cassy, and Harry, who had the task of Teddy, set the babies down near their toys, seeing as they were magical infants, they reached milestones quicker. Even though they were approaching their seventh month, the two children were easily functioning at the ninth month. They were crawling around already, both will soon be walking at that rate, and were already saying such words as "ma ma", "da da", "ba ba", and other variants. As soon as the both of them had been placed onto the floor, they quickly raced over to the toys that were placed strategically around the room to allow them to crawl before reaching any of them. As soon as they made sure that the twins were content, both Harry and Hermione walked back to the sitting room through the archway. In order to keep the children secluded to their playroom, even when the wall was open, the house-elves would assemble a wrought iron baby gate, goblin made, that stretched through the opening between the two rooms. In the center was a door, that had a trick latch to stop the children from being able to learn how to open it as they aged.
Everyone had already seated themselves when they made it back to the group. Angela and Ben were seated on one of the three loveseats, with Lauren and Tyler in another, and Fred and Isaac in the last. Jessica, Mike, and Josh all sat on the couch. Eric was sitting by himself in one of the three lounge chairs that were placed around the room, all placed perfectly by an interior designer. Both Harry and Hermione sat in the last two chairs.
The conversations continued much the same as it had during dinner, while the two Potters continuously glanced at the babies, knowing that the room had been made with the safety of them in mind. Cushioning Charms covered every inch of the place, to make their falls softer. As they sat together talking about life in England and comparing it to life in America, the three couples on the loveseats began to drift together. Soon Angela and Ben were cuddling cutely, while Lauren was leaning on Tyler's shoulder, and he had wrapped his arm around her waist. Isaac had subconsciously leaned closer to Fred, who had his long arm draped across the back of the seat. As time slipped away from them, when the twins began to get fussy, all of them looked to the grandfather clock in surprize when the time read 8:32.
"Oh, I hate to have to leave, but the boys and I need to get home before my mother, otherwise we may be in trouble." Angela said. Most of the others agreed with them, seeing as it was a half an hour drive back to town, and a few of them were given homework that was due tomorrow. The good-bye that took the longest was between Isaac and Fred, Harry knew that once everyone had left, George was going to take the mickey out on him about falling for the guy so quickly. After promises to be informed when they all reached their homes safely, the eight guests headed out of the door.
"Well, it looks like we will be okay tomorrow. Their will at least be a few decent people to converse with." Hermione said when the door was finally shut. Harry agreed and the two of them set about in their nightly routine of giving the twins their bath and dressed before sitting in the rocking chairs to read them their bedtime story. Tonight it was Harry's turn to read the story, Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. The amount of times that they had read it, has allowed Harry to be able to recite it from memory.
Once they were asleep, Harry and Hermione made their way back to the master bedroom, having received the confirmation that all of their guests had made it home safely. Once the door was shut, Hermione ponced onto Harry. She had been wanting to do so since earlier at dinner, but she wasn't going to do so in front of company. Harry moaned as he felt his wife's hands go down his back. He knew tonight was going to be that of a pleasurable one.